1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a surveillance system, and in particular to a surveillance system mounted in a law enforcement vehicle for producing a permanent record, on videotape, of a traffic violation and the incidents that occur after the traffic violator's vehicle has been stopped resulting in an arrest or citation.
2. Prior Art
In law enforcement, a reliable witness that is incapable of perjury is needed to substantiate the actions taken by the law enforcement officer, and to protect the law enforcement officer against false allegations by the persons involved in the incident. An excellent witness of this type is video recording of the incident, which can reviewed after the incident by the officer himself so he can prepare an accurate written report, investigators, prosecutors and/or judges to witness firsthand the incident as it actually happened. These video recordings eliminate conflicting individual interpretations of the incident, since it was recorded while it was happening. As a result, lengthy trials based on the individual interpretations will become a thing of the past.
One of the first uses of a camera in a law enforcement vehicle for making a visual incident record is taught by Grist in U.S. Pat. No. 2,148,119. The Grist reference teaches the use of a camera mounted inside a law enforcement vehicle which makes a record on photographic film. A speedometer mounted on the hood of the law enforcement vehicle is simultaneously recorded on the photographic film along with the target vehicle.
The use of vehicle mounted video cameras to make video records of an incident or scene external to the vehicle are known in the art. Michetti, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,463, discloses an audio-visual trip recorder which has two video cameras, one looking forward through the vehicle's windshield and the other looking backwards through the rear window of the vehicle. Superimposed on the recorded images are the time, date, and the vehicle's registration or license number. Also superimposed on the recorded images are indications of the vehicle's speed, activation of the brakes, turn signals, and engagement of the seat belts.
Peterson, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,904, discloses a vehicle mounted surveillance system for law enforcement purposes. The surveillance system taught by Peterson includes a video camera, a video recorder, an interface box an environmental control unit and a wireless microphone. The video recorder and interface box are contained within a steel vault mounted in the trunk of the vehicle. The vault contains a heater and a cooling element to maintain the temperature within the vault between 40.degree. F. and 90.degree. F. In the system taught by Peterson, the system control has only two switches, a power ON-OFF switch and a RECORD-STOP switch. The system control does not permit the videotape to be rewound nor does the system control permit re-recording over the videotape. The system control preferably has a real time clock which generates date and time data superimposed on the recorded image. The conversation between the law enforcement officer and the stopped motorist are also recorded on the videotape via the wireless microphone.
The video incident capture system disclosed herein is an improved video surveillance system which integrates the outputs of a video camera, a radar unit, a wireless microphone, a remote control and a wireless microphone to produce a comprehensive video recording of an incident from its beginning to the end.